Yugoslavia:

History:

In 600 BC the Greek set trading posts in the east of the Adriatic coast, over time they founded new colonies and influenced the native tribes. In 3 BC Rome conquered the western part of the Adriatic coast and further occupied other regions because they believed that the Illyrians were disrupting trade in these regions. By 14 BC the Romans had already conquered the Celts who at the time occupied the region now referred to as Serbia. They divided the region in two parts where the east and the west were separated and this led to cultural differences, the eastern orthodox was separated from the roman orthodox and the Serbs were separated from the Slovene.[1]

The Romans also divided the west region into provinces and they recruited natives to become emperors, later two Illyrian emperors formed a strong central control system that helped abolish the already existing roman institutions, this led to the persecution of Christians, however years later emperor Constantine legalized Christianity.

The Serbian state was established in 1170 following a large number of Serbs who occupied the land, others who arrived in the region include the Croats, Stefan Nemanja was the Serbian leader and he enlarged his territories in the eastern and southern side of the regions. Vukan who was the first son of Stefan ruled over the Zeta region which is today referred to as Montenegro, his youngest son named Raskto changed his name to Sava after becoming a monk, he made an effort to spread religion in the region and this gave Stefan his father an opportunity to become the first Serbian king.[2]

The Serbian rulers over the years were dependent on the neighboring states whereby Dragutin married a Hungarian princess and the Hungarian king gave him land in the north east region of Bosnia, this made it possible for the Serbs to expand their territory in the North east region. Later Stefan Dusan conquered the southern regions and this doubled the Serbian state, however his son named Uros took over leadership but he was weak and this threatened the Serbian state, as a result of this in 1448 the Ottoman Turks conquered the Serbian state, they also conquered Bosnia in 1463 and Montenegro in 1499, however it was made impossible by guerilla war in Montenegro to dominate in Montenegro.[3]

The Ottoman Empire was an Islam state and the Christian Serbs to be exploited for over five centuries, in 1594 Europeans allies who were assisted by the Serbs fought the Turks, however Austria withdrew from the battle in 1683 inviting the Serbs to move north into Austrian territory, Serbs abandoned their homes and headed north.

In 1716 war broke up between Austria and Turks and the Turks lost possession of the north Bosnia region and the Danube basin after signing a treaty. In 1804 a Serbian leader was murdered by the Turks and this led to renewed conflict between the Serbs and the Turks, the Serbs were supported by the Russian but the Russian protection was impossible after the French invaded Russia, however in 1815 the Serbs were granted autonomy.

In 1914 an Austria prince was assassinated in Sarajevo and Austria attacked Serbia and world war I started, the Serbs defended their country but joint forces made it impossible to win the battle, in 1918 after the Austria failed to win over the Ottoman empire they granted them the right to proclaim the kingdoms of Slovenians, Croats and Serbs, in 1929 King Aleksandra renamed the new country Yugoslavia  but he was latter assassinated in 1934, by 1940 Yugoslavia was surrounded by hostile countries especially Hitler who wanted Yugoslavia to join Axis forces , public demonstrations were held against Nazism and this forced the axis troops to invade the region.[4]

Following the brutality of the Germans who had conquered the region, there emerged strong Serb resistance, civil war emerged in the region and in 1944 Serbia was liberated by the red army, in 1991 Croatia and Slovenia become independent, in 1992 Macedonia, Bosnia and Herzegovina also became independent, finally in 2006 Montenegro was liberated and this was the end of the Yugoslav state. Finally in February 2008 Kosovo was declared independent.[5]

From the above discussion it is evident that Yugoslavia was a state formed in 1929, over the years the various provinces which include Bosnia, Croatia, Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia, Kosovo and Slovenia have become independent states, recently Kosovo has been made an independent state this year whereby the Sar mountain is the  boarder with Macedonia, the Albanian alps is the boarder with Montenegro, the state enjoys continental climates which has led to the population to become farmers and therefore the countries economy depends on agriculture and pasture. However Serbs and the Russians have opposed the independence of Kosovo.[6]

 Why it was good to separate Kosovo from Serbia:

Serbia has over the years been accused of racial and ethnic cleansing, as a result of this NATO bombarded Serbia for 78 days to stop these acts, the separation of both states should e seen as a long lasting solution to the problems that have faced the region over the years. Yugoslavia region has split over the years and a further split in the region should be encouraged to provide independence to the states that were conquered in 1929 to form Yugoslavia.[7]

Freedom has been granted to Kosovo and therefore the state will be in a position to govern themselves and reduce the conflict that earlier existed, Kosovo has also been recognized by many states as a sovereign independent state.

Serbia on the other hand will no longer be accused by international organization regarding any practices of racial and ethnic cleansing, it will now be in a position to defend itself from international claims of these acts and peace will prevail in the region.

 Justify why the separation is good for the US and a good cause of freedom:

The separation of Kosovo is a good idea in that peace will be maintained in the region, the separation is a long term solution in the region other than other solutions such as invasion by NATO which may be expensive and lead to loss of lives and property, majority of the Independent Kosovo state will now be free from racial and ethnic cleansing which will enable them to enjoy their human rights in the new state.[8]

It is also a solution that is good to the US because the US government and other allies will not require troops to seize the fighting in the region, each region will be treated differently and problem areas will be indentified to ensure long term peace in the region. It is also evident that when we divide and rule and this may be one policy objective by the US. Over the years Yugoslavia has split with states becoming independent over the years and for this reason we should not view this split negatively but positive because the splits have led to peace in the regions and states have succeeded economically and socially.[9]

 Why Russia thinks the separation was bad:

Russia has accused the United States for determining where to create new states, Russia had also advised the Serbian leader to surrender and allow western to enter Serbia, the Serbian leader was also advised that this would not result into a separation of the states, however the US frustrated Russia whereby the US did not respect the agreement, they changed the agreement and this has led to negative reactions from Russian leaders.[10]

Russia also fear that Kosovo independence will lead to a storm that will break former soviet union, Russians feel that the idea of separation of states will extend to other areas that may threaten the coexistence of powerful states in the region. Russia also feels that the United States is dictating on the region despite the fact that Russia previously would undertake things their own way, through the separation of these regions means that in future the joining of these regions will be very hard where countries will find it hard to come together and form a super power state.[11]

 Why Russia is wrong:

The united states aim is to bring peace into the region and not to undermine the Russians as they state, many countries have accepted the separation and Kosovo’s independence as a good solution that will bring peace in the region, Russia also states that the division may spread to other regions but this is not possible because other regions are not in conflict and the best way to solve such conflicts will be to separate previously conquered regions like Yugoslavia.

 References:

CNN (2008) Kosovo independence, retrieved on 6th September, available at http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/europe/02/17/kosovo.independence/index.html

 Christian Science monitor (2008) Kosovo separation and Russia, retrieved on 6th September, available at http://www.csmonitor.com/2008/0220/p06s01-woeu.html

 Fact fun (2008) history of Yugoslavia, retrieved on 6th September, available at http://www.didyouknow.cd/story/yugoslavia.htm

 Global research (2008) Kosovo independence and the Serbs, retrieved on 6th September, available at http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=8098

 John Allcock (2000) Explaining Yugoslavia, Columbia University Press, New York

 Religious tolerance (2008) history of Yugoslavia, retrieved on 6th September, available at http://www.religioustolerance.org/yugo_his.htm

 [1] Fact fun (2008) history of Yugoslavia, retrieved on 6th September, available at http://www.didyouknow.cd/story/yugoslavia.htm